How often do you use your garden?

Nathaniel_Essex

Before I got my own place, I always wanted a nice garden. I thought I would be in there for most of the day when the weather was decent and would regularly light up a fire when it was a little colder. Now I got my own place, I am seldom in the garden despite investing a significant amount in furniture and lighting. Flies, cat droppings and (as predicted) new neigbhours who stink up the entire outside have meant I have not used the garden.

With that said, I look out from the bedroom windows and all the gardens I can see, I never see anyone lounging outside. In fact, we are the only ones (that I can see, around 8 houses) that actually have garden furniture.

I also look at the footprint of the garden and the fact it is larger than the land my actual house sits on.

comeandgo

Love my garden. Why do you have flies? I live in the country, have bees, wasps, birds, deer but no flies. Is there rotting food near by?

Davesnave

I use my garden every day. It's big; bigger than yours, and bigger than his as well.:p

But I don't really see the point of this thread. If you find out that lots of people use their gardens, how will that affect your thoughts and behaviour?

moneyistooshorttomention

Gardens are always useful imo - if only as a buffer zone (so one's house isn't bang up against the neighbours one hopefully).

I confess to still being very curious as to how many people have garden furniture in their gardens in this area - as I don't see much of it and I guess I'm assuming they do have some, but it's in their back gardens only. I suspect I'm wrong and people genuinely often don't have any.

As for "use it".....well what's the definition of "use it"? In nicer weather - I'll go and "have a sit" in it for a while whilst having a drink sometimes (or planning what I'm going to do next in it). But it's steadily getting more and more use as my own personal greengrocers - as I'm planting more and more food in it and so I'll be out checking how it's doing daily at "good weather" time of year and seeing what I might be able to pick and assessing how much longer before I can pick something else I've got my eye on for my meals.

I admit to being distinctly surprised at how little "use" most people anywhere seem to put their gardens to and a high prevalence of thinking of it as just "ground" and plonking an extension on it.

There is also an element of "use" that isn't so apparent - as the owner could have spotted birds bopping around in their garden and is inside their house watching their antics sometimes. One certainly doesnt need a bird table for that - a garden stocked with a variety of different things they also like and they're there helping their little selves...

longwalks1

Now im middle aged (41), i love my garden, sitting out in in listening to the birds, and watching wildlife (i sound like my parents years ago). We live 30 minutes from London yet are surrounded by fields, farmland and the countryside. We take it a little for granted until my partners hairdresser visits from North London and is amazed at how 'out in the sticks' we are, and how its 'like Emmerdale or Last Of The Summer Wine'



We do chuckle

Enterprise_1701C

I love my garden, we grow a lot of fruit in it including a lovely grape vine.

As for the cat droppings, we used to have this problem. We got an ultrasonic cat deterrent, it worked wonderfully and we now rarely get cat droppings in the garden. And we have a LOT of neighbourhood cats.

As for new neighbours "stinking up" the entire outside, how on earth do they manage to do that? Surely any smell should dissipate over a short period of time?

With a garden being outside you cannot stop flies and various other insects coming in, you just have to get used to it!

Are you in a city, small town, or rural?

We have learned to appreciate it, we had a German friend round, they have apartments there for the main part, they do not tend to go for houses, their ambition is to live in the middle of a city whereas here it seems that people prefer to live in the country. Anyway, he came over for a weekend and could not get over the garden, he spent as much time in it as he could, just the shear pleasure of sitting out to eat breakfast was heaven to him. And the idea of picking raspberries and eating them was amazing.

I think you occasionally need to be reminded how lucky you are.

longwalks1

Forgot to say if we leave the back door or bifold doors open in the summer, we usually burn a couple of citronella candles to keep the flies from coming into the house... damn things!!

LandyAndy

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Gardens are always useful imo - if only as a buffer zone (so one's house isn't bang up against the neighbours one hopefully).

I confess to still being very curious as to how many people have garden furniture in their gardens in this area - as I don't see much of it and I guess I'm assuming they do have some, but it's in their back gardens only. I suspect I'm wrong and people genuinely often don't have any.

..

At least they don't have old sofas in their front garden

Waterlily24

We've got quite a big garden, hubby is out there all day if the weather is OK and sometimes if it's not. I hardly ever go out there apart from sometimes in nice weather to have a cup of tea. We've got seating round the pond and also a table and benches near there, and another set of tables and benches on the patio area.

I think our garden is lovely though, lots of shrubs, flowers, fruit trees and my favourite roses. The roses are beautiful at the moment.

I'm sitting at my computer looking at loads of foxgloves and shrubs it's lovely.

Most of the foxgloves are self seeded and there are loads, there are also lupins and poppies that have self seeded - all lovely.

kazwookie

I'm out there most days at this time of year, weeding , mowing, just sitting, watching the bees / butterflies.

I don't have flies, something must be attracting them, rotting food etc if you get rid of what ever it is, the flies will go as well.

onomatopoeia99

Not much. It came with the house I wanted, so I end up mowing it to stop it turning into a jungle, but that's about it.